2008/2009 Third Year Master's Commission Students
Belinda Renkens
Nickname: Bindy, B, Blondie
Hometown: Green Bay, Wi
Age:21
Favorite Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8 specifically verse 8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Favorite Worship Song: Right now?? (It changes quite often…) You Won’t Relent by Misty Edwards or Keep My Heart by Jeff Deyo
Favorite Quote: ‘Waters that were calm begin to bring a storm to life.” Madison Greene song: The Eastern or “With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days, they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.” From Red Moon Rising – the Vision. By Pete Greig & Dave Roberts
Future: I WANT to travel the world, taking pictures and writing about events that are happening that are being kept hidden. I have no idea what God’s plans for me are, however. I do think that travel will be involved somehow because of my love for the nations, but I have no idea in what capacity as yet.
I came to Master’s because I knew that a normal college would just not work out for me. I worked for a year beforehand because I had no idea what I was supposed to do, but then my Mom and I started looking into different Master’s Commissions and it just clicked. Everything that Master’s is about is perfect for me; it feeds my passion and directs my focus. I feel that everything during the past two years and continuing throughout this year is preparation for what is to come in my life. I’m not sure what God’s plans are for me this year, but I do know that I am supposed to be here and that whatever is in store this year, God is going to do something absolutely incredible and I do not want to miss out. I want to be refined and honed so that the impact that I make on this world is with my full potential acting in the capacity of God’s Spirit within me. And I cannot wait to see what will come next!
As cliché as this sounds, being in Master’s has completely changed my life. I can’t think of any one specific event that has changed me, it’s a conglomeration thereof. It’s more the lifestyle and the focus than any one occasion. During the past 2 years, God has been continually refining, continually redirecting my focus, continually renewing my love and desperation for Him. It has focused my path and given me an outlet for all areas of my life and my abilities, plus given me a chance to experience His ministry and purpose in action while still doing the ‘school’ deal. Words seem to be falling short to fully describe how completely changed I have become and how completely God has filled me during this time and how He has just been continually preparing me for an extremely un-ordinary life full of His promise and truth to a world that is hurt and forgotten. And I am ready for whatever comes.
Cassandra Strycharz
Nickname: Cassie
Hometown: Wilmington, DE
Age:19
Favorite Scripture: Psalms 121
Favorite Worship Song: Worship Song: changes with what mood i am in and where my relationship with God is but for the moment Leeland's CD has been amazing!!!! (Yes You Have, Hey, and Can't Stop)
Favorite Quote: "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others"- Winston Churchill "No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."- Calvin Coolidge "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."- Robert Kennedy
Future: God has made it clear that i am not to know exactly what i am going to do until i am about to do it. which is amazing. i know that God has plans for me and i have a vague idea of skills i will use but the actual plan i have no idea.
This year at Masters is going to be crazy. At the end of my second year I knew I was returning and I knew that God was going to do some amazing stuff. There has been a three year process at work within me and I know that I am being prepared for whatever God has for me. I am excited but also very aware that this year is going to be amazing and very hard. I have a lot that I need to work on but the amazing thing is that God is going to take care of everything as long as my focus stays where it is supposed to be. I love being here and getting to know all of the first years and seeing them grow. They are so amazing and inspire me in my walk with God. This to me is more conformation that this is the team God wanted for this year because I know that if one of them where not here I would not be challenged in one area of my life. To summarize everything, this year God is going to move mightily.
Katy Swiger
Nickname: KJ
Hometown: Fairview, WV
Age:22
Favorite Scripture: where do I begin…there’s an entire Bible full of them…right now I’m loving Isaiah 43:18-19…
Favorite Worship Song: “Strip Me Away” by Interface (Fort Myers MC worship band…AMAZING!!!)
Favorite Quote: My all time favorite quote is from the movie “A League of Their Own" ” It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.” Said by Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) to Dottie Henson (played by Gina Davis)
Future: I do eventually want to go to school for physical therapy, but, I want to do whatever God wants me to do. I know, typical Christian answer, but for the longest time, even since being in Master’s I’ve been planning ahead and trying to figure out how everything I’ve been doing while here will play into my future. I’ve stressed out about it enough to know that there is so much peace now within me that I am totally open and willing to do whatever God calls me to do. If He wants me to go back to West Virginia and help build the youth ministry in my home church, then that is what I am going to do. If He wants me to stay in Pennsylvania, I will stay in Pennsylvania. If He wants me to move to Idaho (not sure why I picked the state of Idaho…) and start there fresh and new, then I will pack my bags and be on the next fight out. I want to be completely open and willing to do His will for my life, not my own. Too many times I’ve let my own plans or ambitions get in the way.
I came to Master’s because I knew God had something for me, and I desired to get it, but I had no idea how to get it. I knew deep down that I was not called to live the “simple life” of a little country girl from a small town of 400 people in West Virginia. But that was normal, and to many people in that area, it was the right way to live. I had always dreamed of getting out there and doing bigger and better things with my life. I planned on going off to college to play softball (my second love, next to Jesus), travel all over the United States, and see what was out there through sports. But after many recurrent shoulder dislocations I was told by doctors I would be unable to play softball ever again. It seemed like at that moment everything I had planned to do fell to the ground. I absolutely loved living where I grew up. I have an amazing family that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I miss them, and I still love visiting them, but I knew I couldn’t get everything God wanted me to get by staying put and not making some kind of effort to move out of my comfort zone to find His will for my life. I also knew that an average, college setting wasn’t for me either, so even if I did play softball for a career I would be miserable sitting in a typical college setting for 4 years. It came to the point where I desperately needed a change in my life…a radical one. Through different events and things that happened over the course of a year or so, God laid it on my heart to do Master’s Commission. I have known about MC since I was 15, but never felt like I’d be “good enough” or “Christian –like” enough to do it. But praise God “He doesn’t call the equipped…He equips the called!” It all happened so fast. I looked and the GZMC web site one day, and by the end of the night I had printed off the application and was ready to leave that minute. There was such a peace within my entire being. I knew that Master’s was the step out of my comfort zone that God needed me to take. I want God to completely shake me up this year. I want Him to break me and set my desires back on Him, because that is the only focus I need to have. I want to relentlessly pursue Him like never before. My first year I was getting my feet wet with God, my second year I embraced Him and the changes He was taking me through, now my third year I want to be so caught up in His glory. I want to chase after Him to the point that there is absolutely nothing of myself left…energy, strength, etc., and get to the point where I need to rely on Him for 100% of my life. I know I have not arrived by any stretch of the imagination. God still works in me and deals with my baggage on a daily basis. There are still things I try to hold on to, but I know that God is bigger than my issues. He is bigger than my problems. And He is definitely bigger than I could ever imagine being on my own.
“I am not perfect, but that is okay!” I use to be this unsure girl who felt like I always lived in the shadows of people who I felt were smarter or better than I was at certain things. God has shown me through my years here at Master’s that He is not looking for perfection. I don’t need to look at the approval of other people to feel accepted. God looks at our heart. He knows our intentions before we act on them. I’ve learned that if my heart is right and if I am doing things to the best of my ability God will bless it. This has helped me become surer of who I am in Christ. I know I am confident in who I am in Him. I know I am a daughter of the King. I know that I don’t need to impress anyone. My first year, and even into my second year I was still trying to convince myself (instead of really believing and claiming it) that I am all of this, but I was trying to do it on my own. God slapped me in the face one day and told me to let Him show me how much He already approves of me and that I don’t need to depend on what man thinks.
Nick Cirino
Nickname: Japa-talian
Hometown: Kemblesville, PA
Age:20
Favorite Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31
Favorite Worship Song: ‘Til I See You
Favorite Quote: “I’d rather die like Christ than live unholy.” –Lecrae in Souled Out
Future: Pastor
I came to Master’s because it is where God called me to. I was looking for something to do, trying to figure out what college or program that I was going to do, and one day God told me clear as day that I was to go to Master’s. So I went. And looking back, I can see that it was the best option for me. If I had gone to a traditional college, I would have probably kept secluding myself from other people, and kept diving further into an academic world and way of thought that God has not called me to. I would have kept having a disproportionate amount of head- to heart-knowledge. I would have kept treating Christianity like it was only a religion and not a life style and relationship. I didn’t need just a school; I needed a family, a group of people to keep me accountable, to walk beside me, to encourage and correct me. I needed to learn how to be a part of a group, how to love people because I didn’t know how to. I was too used to living in my own world. But praise be to God that He has guided me and led me. I couldn’t have chosen right on my own. But God knew what was best for me. Thank you Lord!
Nicholas Knapp
Nickname: Nic, Knapp
Hometown: Stanfordville, NY
Age:20
Favorite Scripture: Philippians 3:7-10, specifically verse 7, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
Favorite Worship Song: Bless the Lord by Jeff Deyo, and just about anything by Hillsong
Favorite Quote:“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible-what a pity that we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” A. W. Tozer or “Anything done in our own strength will fail miserably or succeed even more miserably.” G. K. Chesterton
Future: Despite being the one thing I said I would never do, God has called me to the mission field, and has begun placing a burden in my heart for those living in third world countries.
Masters has been such a huge part of my life that I have a hard time remembering anything before it. There were times my first year that I questioned whether or not this was where God wanted me. Thankfully, He reassured me every time and gave me the strength to carry on. Since then, He has done so much in my life that I couldn’t begin to summarize it all. A lot of the things that He did were small things that together have brought me to where I am today. As I look back, however, I can see that everything that God did was designed to help me die a little more so that He could live through me a little more. Lately God has been showing me how much I have made life about me, what I want to do “for God,” what I want to get out of worship, etc. He has asked me to make it all about Him, and it is amazing how differently I look at things when I am focused on glorifying God. It has become my sole desire to glorify God in whatever way I can.
SherryAnne Macpherson
Nickname: SherryAnna Buggy Wuggy
Hometown: Somers Point, New Jersey
Age:20
Favorite Scripture: There are so many scriptures that can be my favorite on different days depending on how my relationship with God is going and what speaks to me. I always love the second half of Romans 7 where Paul talks about how he wants to do what is right but can't because he does what he doesn't want to do. Then he realized that it is the sin within him that does it and the first verse in chapter 8 talks about how how we are free in Jesus' name. Also Psalms 63 always ravishes my heart.
Favorite Worship Song: : There are also so many songs that are amazing that i worship to that i love. Anything that praises God and tells about how He loves us so much and how we can do nothing but praise Him. I love songs that praise my Maker and let me praise God for who He is to me.
Favorite Quote: One of my favorite quotes is one made my David when he was dancing before the Lord with all his might and told his wife that, "I will become even more undignified then this."
Future: My future can hold many things, and i am not sure what it has in store for me. I would still love to be a US marshal or a police officer like my Father because i want to protect those that are weak and stand for justice. Maybe it might not be a police officer, but still might play a role in helping others. Wherever God wants me, is where i want to be. God knows my heart, He knows my abilities, and sometimes he doesn't even call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
In being in Masters for a third year, everything can become routine. But I knew that this year was going to be completely different. I have been at GZMC for two years and haven't been home for more than two weeks in the past three years. Here is where I consider home to be. I know that I am not supposed to be at home, and I know that God has a specific purpose for me being here at this Masters Commission. I still want to peruse God in every means possible, and believe that here at Masters is the only way to peruse God at this point in my life. Masters is focused so much on perusing God, that there can be no distractions. What 20-year-old can say that they have time in their day to seek God whole-heartily for hours? I crave God. My craving for Him is something that cannot be satisfied, but I know that I can chase after Him to receive all that He has for me. I am running and I am running hard because I don't want to miss out, and I don't want to be left behind. God is all that makes me whole, not my friends, not my family, only God. I want to know Him more intimately. I had this vision last year as some of the girls and I were walking out in a field behind our offices. I love to be in nature and see how God moves because that is how I see God the most. It was a lovely day and we were walking and admiring Gods creation and how much He loves us. There is a tree line and it looks like a long lane, like something you would see in an Anne of Green Gables movie, and I looked down it thinking of how romantic it was. I was thanking God that He romances us and as I was looking down the lane, I saw the end of Jesus' robe turn the corner. All I could think of was running after Him. That is all I want to do, is to run after Jesus and never look back.
2008/2009 Second Year Master's Commission Students
Meaghan O’Malley
Nickname: Blondie, Squirrel
Hometown: Medford (Long Island), New York
Age: 19
Favorite Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:5, “so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.” Man that’s powerful; I also love 1 John 4:4, 2 Tim 1:7, Micah 7:7…
Favorite Worship Song: Well this changes on a weekly basis but as of now its Lead Me to the Cross, Hosanna, Empty Me, and anything by Phil Wickham
Favorite Quote: “Let Go, Let God” I’m not sure who first came up with that, but it’s the answer to all of my questions.
Future: Well I’m not sure what my future holds for me as of yet, but what I do know is that whatever it is, it will not be considered “normal” or “ordinary” (Who decides what normal or ordinary is anyway?). I do know I’m called to love and help people in some way.
I feel like I was called back to do a second year at Masters because God is using Masters to prepare me for what is going to be next in my life. I believe I’m still learning discipline and how to have a confidence in my life that I find not within myself, but in God. With all the challenges and obstacles I will face in Masters, I know it will somehow draw me closer to God, and build me up for the future He has called me to. Through a second year, I want to be completely emptied of myself, and so full of God, so that He can use me in all the ways He wants to. I want to learn what it means and how to truly pursue God with all that I am, allowing nothing to distract my focus. I feel God wants me to really experience what it is like to continually pour into and lover other people, in the same Way God has shown to me; which is without giving up. I know God is showing me how to live my life with His peace and His power instead of fear, and to live in His strength, not my weaknesses.
Teddy Tompkins
Nickname: Tedward, Tedison, T-Tom
Hometown: Newark, Delaware
Age: 19
Favorite Scripture: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9)
Favorite Worship Song: “The Stand” by Hillsong
Favorite Quote: “The evangelist above all else needs to recognize that man without Christ is lost, and if he doesn’t recognize that, he’s got no message left” –Ravi Zacharias
Future: To be a light in a dark place
Before my first year made it clear to me that I ought to seek His will for my life instead of following my own will, so I did. I sought what God wanted for my life and He made it clear that He asked me to sacrifice the ideas I had about where I was going to be and what I was going to do as a young adult and participate in something called Master’s Commission. I did my research and looked up different Master’s Commissions in different parts of the country and God brought me to GZMC. Throughout my first year I had to continually rely on that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was the one who brought me to GZMC and that He had a sovereign purpose behind me being here. Going into my second year, there were doors open for me to go other places and do other things even in the ministry; I sought God concerning these things and He made it clear that He wasn’t done with me here yet and therefore I was to stay. Therefore I have returned my second year for the same reason that I came my first year: God wants me here. There is no other reason for me than that and there is no other reason that will suffice to be anywhere: only that God wants me here.
Through my first year with GZMC God reshaped my view of Him and redefined the foundation of my relationship with Him to be in aligned with the Word of God. This was a hard process through which I was challenged beyond what I thought I could bear, but it was exceedingly worth the price that I paid that I can live my life more completely for Christ and become the man of God that He has purposed for me to be.
2008/2009 First Year Master's Commission Students
Alexis Tebbs
Nickname: Lexy
Hometown: Redmond, WA
Age: 19
Favorite Worship Song: "Came to My Rescue" by Hillsong United
Favorite Quote: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning how to dance in the rain” ~Anonymous
Future:Before MC, I planned on going to culinary school to become a chef. My passion is for the kitchen! I love to work with food! As of now, I am a blank slate and God can write whatever he wants me to do on it.
I came to Master’s because I wanted to strengthen my foundation and grow closer to Him. I didn’t feel ready to leave for college and be “thrown to the wolves.” But, I knew that I needed to take a year of MC in order to learn and grow in my faith so I won’t lose my faith in the real world. This year, I want God to change me, shape me, and mold me into the person that he wants me to be. I want to fall in love with my Father and Savior and understand even more about my King. I know that God has called me here and He has already done some amazing things in my life. I now feel free and like a “blank slate.” Everything that I left behind, my past, and my future does not matter to me anymore. I don’t care what happens to me as long as it is God’s will and not my own. This year I just want more and more of Him.
Andromedia Sweeney
Nickname: Andi
Hometown: Mount Airy, MD
Age: 19
Favorite Scripture:Joshua 1.9
Favorite Worship Song:How Great Is Our God?
Favorite Quote: “Passion may look like sacrifice to someone who’s not in love.” –Valentine
Future: When I grow up I want to be Peter Pan… and therefore never grow up.
I’m at Masters this year because God placed a call for something more in my life. I feel like God wants to show me what it really means to walk in His will. Over the past year God has shown me that my praise habits have become dependant on my momentary status. I want my life to SCREAM of Gods love, sovereignty, and promise even when my body aches and I feel like I can’t go anymore. I hope this year at Masters pushes me over the edge of self comfort into the place where I find Gods sufficient grace.
Arielle Arnette
Nickname: N/A
Hometown: Richland, PA
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all of the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:18-19
Favorite Worship Song:Worth It All
Favorite Quote: N/A
Future:All the plans I make are subject to change, but I have been accepted to Kutztown University as a Secondary Ed (History emphasis) major for the Fall 2009 semester.
I can remember exactly where I was the first time I ever felt drawn to Master’s Commission. At 12 years old, having just watched a Master’s drama at a youth convention I thought to myself, “I could do that. How cool would that be?” Ever since then, I have always known that God wanted me to go to Master’s Commission. I always knew that Master’s could be something great in my life, but it was not always at the front of my mind. As my senior year of high school began, I found myself accepted to attend Kutztown University this fall but God had something different in mind. After my dad brought up the topic of Master’s Commission again during the fall of my senior year, I began to reconsider my plans for this year and ask God what He wanted me to do. After a lot of indecision about what to do, I talked things over with my parents and decided that I would put college on hold for a year and pursue the desire that God placed in my heart to go to Master’s Commission. Now all I had to do was find the right one! I knew of a few other Master’s that I could have considered, but as soon as my family and I found GZMC online, we knew that if I was meant to go to Master’s, this is where I would go. In a sense, just getting to Master’s has been quite a journey and I know that these next 9 months will be nothing short of a journey themselves. Getting here was only the beginning of what God wants to do in my life and I look forward to all that He will do over the next 9 months. I feel as if this will be year of healing and learning how to fully rely on God and trust Him with every area of my life.
Christina Joy Francis
Nickname: Sunshine
Hometown: Lumberport ,West Virginia
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:2 Timothy 3:16 -17– All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. So that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Favorite Worship Song:Here I Am To Worship
Favorite Quote: "our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
Future: : I am still praying for God to lead me to what I am suppose to do with my future, but I know I want to go into full time ministry!
The reason I came to Masters Commission is because I wanted to grow closer to the Lord. I always wanted to go to a Christian college for a long time, and I knew God wanted me to. But little did I know that He had Ground Zero Masters commission in mind for me! So during the process of trying to find a Christian college and deciding what God wanted me to do, my parents and I decided to check out the different masters commissions on the internet. There were so many, but somehow we came upon Ground Zero Masters Commission and we felt a peace in out hearts about it and I applied and here I am! It just kinda fell into the hands of God and He just led me here for a reason! This year I want to focus on God and get rid of the little things in my life that is in the way of my relationship with God. I believe God wants me to be here, and I cant wait to see the things he is going to do in me and through me. I want to be a vessel for the Lord. And Im really excited for the year and the things God is going to do!
Donna Kroll
Nickname: Peanut, Turkey, Popcorn, Small Fry, Squirt
Hometown: Somerset, PA
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. But set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
Favorite Worship Song:'Hold Me Now' by Kirk Franklin
Favorite Quote: N/A
Future:At this time I'm not sure exactly what God wants me to do. I know I am to be at Master's for right now. After that I am just trusting and believing in God that he will let me know what and where I am suppose to go when the time is right.
I came to Master's because God led me here. I knew a little about Master's and what they were about. The more I looked into it, the more I could hear God calling me to go. I strongly believe that God is pushing me out of my comfort zone so I will have complete trust in him. In coming here God has already taught me so many things about trust. He has been preparing me throughout my life for things that I am going through now and will be going through later on as well. He has shown me how those little things in the past, that I thought were pointless to learn at the time, really had a purpose. Throughout the year I know God will keep modeling and reshaping me to fit his plan and purpose for my life.
Gabrielle Price
Nickname: Gabby
Hometown: Topsham, ME
Age: 17/18
Favorite Scripture:Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
Favorite Worship Song:any hymn, blessed be your name, amazing love
Favorite Quote: N/A
I thought I was going to go to college to major in dance and eventually dance with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. But those plans changed when my parents didn’t have enough money for me to keep dancing as much as I was, so I cut back on classes and gave up on my dream to become a dancer and a dance teacher. I then went through all of my other options, not really sure of what I wanted to do. I thought about history, music therapy and psychology, but in the end I really wasn’t REALY sure what I wanted to do. Then, that same year, my junior year my youth group went to see GZMC at the coffee house in Fitchburg, MA and a couple of my youth group leaders said they could see me doing something like Masters Commission. It was exactly what I had been thinking, but I wasn’t really sure. The following year I had 2 options, apply to go to bates college or apply to go to Master’s Commission. I worked on both applications for a while, but I never got my application to bates in for the early acceptance deadline, So I just focused on Master’s. And I’m here. And after hanging out with other Masters I’ve decided that I’m defiantly at the right one. God basically wants to do everything. He’s already begun to change me. He shows me new stuff every day.
Jacob Smalls
Nickname: Jake
Hometown: Swedesboro, New Jersey
Age: 19
Favorite Scripture:Proverbs 9:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Favorite Worship Song:Fight Thru Praise by Frontline
Favorite Quote: N/A
Future:I want to be able to do something with music but I feel god has called me to do something in urban ministry.
The only reason I actually applied for Masters is because my mom convinced me to, after I came with her and my brother to visit. I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I never thought I would be in masters, because I was so far from God. I was just falling and falling until I was just empty inside, I didn’t even care about anything, and I didn't know where I would end up, but God worked it all out and this was His calling for me. There has been a lot of change and a lot of sacrifice for me, but I am so hungry and so desperate for something different. Masters saved my life, but most importantly God saved my life.
Jesse Smalls
Nickname: N/A
Hometown: Swedesboro, New Jersey
Age: 19
Favorite Scripture:Romans 1:16
Favorite Worship Song:Pure by Gateway Worship
Favorite Quote: N/A
Future:I know God has called me to ministry, maybe youth pastor, missionary, or start my own masters. I’m still trying to figure this out.
I came to masters because I know God had called me here and I definitely needed to change because I was not going down a good path. I guess you could say coming to masters has breathed new life into me because for the longest time I had lost that fire and hunger for God and I was just going through the motions. I know God had placed a call on my life to live differently and to be light to my friends and my school. I thought I had everything and life is going good and everything I thought that was good just shattered and it that’s where I just started to turn my back on God. I would still going to church and all but I became a lukewarm Christian, I was living from Sunday to Sunday and putting on this mask. I did what I wanted to do and I didn’t care if it was God’s way or not. When I came to masters God had showed me that I needed to change and I wasn’t living the life he called me to live and I rededicated my life to him on the first night here. I missed so many opportunities and now that I have rededicated my life to God. I don’t want to miss anything that God has for me. I want everything he has for me the good and the bad. Since I have been here God has changed me so much that I want to be in his word and I just want to grow in him everyday. I just hunger to learn new things everyday. I just believe master’s has helped me so much and has pushed me so much already and we are only month in. This year I just want God to help me get past my fears, insecurities, and the junk that’s been holding me back for soon long. I believe this is going to be an awesome year and I know God is going to have great things in store for me.
Joanna Cary
Nickname: Jo, JoJo, Anna, Anna Banana, MoJo JoJo
Hometown: Fort Ashby, West Virginia
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and Psalms 27:1-4
Favorite Worship Song:“Keep My Heart” by Jeff Deyo
Favorite Quote: “Promise me you’ll always remember: ‘you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.’” Christopher Robin to Pooh
Future:I want to do whatever God calls me to do. I don’t know where and what God is going to tell me to do with my future.
I came to Masters because I felt God was telling me to come here. I also came to Masters because I was at a point where I just wanted to leave everything in my life behind and go hard after God. I wanted so much more of God and to know more about him. God has opened up so many doors for me. At the beginning of the summer I felt like God was calling me to Masters, I just did not know which one. As the summer went on God provided a job for me and I kept seeking God to know where to go. I went to the Potomac Youth Convention and met Mike Lewis who was running a table there. He talked with me about the program and gave me information. I was so excited, but I still did not know where to go. I kept seeking God and I got my answer. God lead me here to Ground Zero Masters Commission.
God has done awesome things in my heart and life since I arrived here at GZMC. When I was getting ready to come I thought I was in a dream. When I got here I realized that the dream was coming true. God allowed me to go through things for a reason, I had to put my full trust in him to even come. It’s like I said he provided a job for me but the money that I earned from the job was not enough so I had to trust that if he was calling me here then he would meet me half way, and he did. I knew he was showing me the plan for what I was supposed to do, but it was just in little parts. I am here for today, tomorrow, and many days after that, but then, where he leads me I will go. I have come to a point where I am living for today the best that I can because I have no idea what is to come next. Masters is really teaching me that you have to live day for day. In the past I have been a person that had to plan out my entire life instead of living in the moment. I analyzed too much instead of going after life.
In this year I want God to shape me into the woman of God he wants me to be. I am so excited about this year, I believe that God is going to do a change in my life and open my eyes to new things. I am praying that God will reveal His will in my life. In the last couple of months I have felt like God was calling me into some kind of ministry I just do not know what it is yet. I know that in God’s time I will know what He wants me to do.
Kristen Carlson
Nickname: Kris
Hometown: Overland Park, Kansas / West Grove, Pennsylvania
Age: 19
Favorite Scripture:God has laid this scripture on my heart specifically for this year, “When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:13
Favorite Worship Song:Too many songs speak to me in too many different ways for me to list. Even songs that aren’t labeled “worship songs” have been used by God to speak to me.
Favorite Quote: I don’t know about a favorite quote, but I saw this on my Starbucks coffee cup today, “What I look for in musicians is generosity. There is so much to learn from each other and about each other’s culture. Great creativity begins with tolerance.” – Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist
Future: I desire to remain with my eyes and ears open to see and hear what God wants to do in my future, for He can conjure a far greater plan than I ever could. However, if I had to pick something right this second, I would want to go to college (somewhere) for a music performance degree in flute.
Why did I come to Master’s Commission? I felt God calling me to tithe my life to Him. I felt Him desiring a deeper, more exciting and adventurous, passionate, relationship with me. And I certainly desire that from Him. In Master’s, there are far less distractions you are dealing with and its an environment that promotes nothing but getting closer to God. I am here to know Him more and love Him more. That is my sole purpose. What does God want to do in my life this year? I know He wants me depending on Him wholly and completely, not looking to anyone or anything else to satisfy my heart. I feel also like I need to be more open-minded, allowing God to work in me not in the way I necessarily expect, but in the way He pleases.
Megan Haver
Nickname: Megi
Hometown: LaVergne, TN
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:Lamentations 3
Favorite Worship Song:“Faithful One” by Brian Doerksen
Favorite Quote: “The choices you make today, will affect your tomorrow.” Anonymous
Future: I plan to get my nursing degree and go overseas to do mission work, but it really all depends on where God will take me. God will open the doors to what He wants me to do in my life so therefore that is what I will do.
I came to Master’s for a couple different reasons. First, I want to learn how to be able to worship God in many different ways, not just in the pew on Sunday mornings. Coming from a Baptist background it’s really easy for me to find comfort in church worship services but it’s much harder for me to be able to worship God in my everyday life. I want God to push me out of my comfort zone, not only in my relationship with God through worship, but also in my relationships with the people around me. I want God to break down the walls that I have spent the last 18 years building and build me who I am in Him. It will hurt and it will be hard but I am ready to everything I have into this challenge for the next nine months.
Michelle Lynn Cavanaugh
Nickname: Chelle
Hometown: Quarryville, Pa
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:Hebrews 12:1
Favorite Worship Song: Take it All- Hillsong United
Favorite Quote: "Live simply so that others can simply live."
Future:I would like to become a Nutritionist that works with athletes.
Have you ever had something so planned out that it seemed as if nothing could rock those future endeavors? That was me when I entered into my senior year of high-school. I was already excepted into the college I wanted to attend, everything was set up for me to go there and pursue the dreams I had for myself. Then, around November of my senior year, Pastor Mike asked me to come to a youth rally that the 07/08 MC team was performing. I went along for the experience, but God really changed my heart on that trip. The Lord told me Masters is were He wanted me and that this program is His will for my life this year. I still have a lot of uncertainty as to why God has me here and what He wants to do in my life during MC. I know however, that my God is sovereign and as long as I walk with Him, He will be faithful and work in me. This year I want God to completely change me and strip away anything that is in the way of me getting closer to Him. I want to be broken down only for Him to build me back up.
Nancy Kemp
Nickname: Nan, Nance
Hometown: Valley City, Ohio
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18
Favorite Worship Song:Yes You Have (Leeland)
Favorite Quote: "There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love."-Christopher Morley
Future: I plan on becoming an RN after masters and eventually doing long term medical mission work.
When I was trying to decide what to do after high school, I settled on going to nursing school pretty quickly. However, God had other plans. My youth pastor had several different Master’s Commissions come to our church over the years, and it was always in the back of my mind. God showed me very clearly that I needed a change in my life. I was so used to doing all of the same things, going to church, being involved in the same ministries, sitting in the same seat every Sunday. I was never a bad kid, but I was mediocre, and God showed me that I had to change. I needed to get out of my comfort zone, to be stretched, and to become more disciplined in certain areas. Master’s is perfect for that. I’m being stretched more than I thought and the year has only begun!
Rebekah McCrorey
Nickname: Bekah
Hometown: East McKeesport, PA (Pittsburgh)
Age: 18
Favorite Scripture:This is a loaded question, but my answer is Psalm 86:10-12 “For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.” Right now this is my favorite verse because it is rather definitive of what my heart is crying out to the Lord.
Favorite Worship Song: There are too many to name, but I guess at the moment it is Vision of You by Shane & Shane
Favorite Quote: :"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her." - Maya Angelo
Future:I feel a call on my life to full-time ministry, but thats about all I have planned. I am just waiting on God's direction and timing.
I came to Masters this year for a number of reasons. First of all, I am just desperate for more of God. Masters is a place where I am able to completely throw off everything that is/can be a hinderance to my relationship with God as I run after Him with my entire being. With chasing after God himself at the foundation of why I am here, I feel God has brought me to Masters to refine me, to gut out all the garbage that keeps me from Him on a daily basis. Other reasons why I came to Masters this year include the opportunity of hands on ministry experiences and intense academics. I have many weaknesses that will be tried this year through every aspect of Masters. I also know that God wants to turn those weaknesses into strengths as He reveals more weaknesses that He wants to transform. He wants to test me and stretch me in new ways in order that I may grow into the woman that He has created me to be and do all that He has called me to do. It is all about Him. Masters, for me, this year is a tool that God is using in my life in so many different ways to make my heart undividedly in love with Him.
Thomas Sleigh
Nickname: Tom, Big Tom, Tom Tom
Hometown: Weston, WV
Age: 21
Favorite Scripture:Philippians 4:13, Hebrews 10:16-18, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 40:31
Favorite Worship Song:Rescue
Favorite Quote: “Dream as if you’ll live forever; Live as if you’ll die today” – James Dean
Future: I would like to be involved in Youth Ministry; maybe a Youth Pastor or possibly a Youth Evangelist.
I came to Ground Zero Master’s Commission because God put a call on my life. He has called me into ministry, I believe specifically Youth Ministry; whether that would be a Youth Pastor or Youth Evangelist, I do not know. God did not call me to this particular master’s commission, but to me it looked like the best of the best. I got the chance to meet some of the GZMC crew at a youth convention and they blew me away! They were the most humble people I had ever met in my entire life! I prayed about it and God gave me the green light to apply here. Now here I am! I really believe that God wants me at GZMC because he wants to break me down spiritually. He wants to totally clean my slate and start me over. My prayer since I have arrived here has been for there to be less of me and more of Him in my life. That when others see me; when I see me; they do not see Tom; they see Jesus Christ. I am excited to see what God will be doing in and through me during my time here at GZMC.
